It was a tale of two quarters between Missouri and Arkansas, with Arkansas rushing out of the gates for a 21-7 lead only to see Missouri battle back to take a 31-28 lead into halftime. Missouri kicker Tucker McCann kicked a 37-yard field goal in the final minute of the half to give Missouri the lead.

Arkansas cashed in on an interception by Missouri quarterback Drew Lock on the game’s opening possession by traveling 70 yards on five plays to take a 7-0 lead with a Devwah Whaley goal line run. Mizzou’s Ish Witter capped a 92-yard drive later in the first quarter to tie the game at 7-7, but the Razorbacks stormed right back with a quick four-play, 75-yard touchdown drive highlighted by Austin Allen‘s 57-yard pass to Jordan Jones for the score. Moments later, a good punt return by Henre’ Toliver gave the Razorbacks the ball at the Missouri 29-yard line and two plays later David Williams ran in from 16 yards out for a score to push the lead to 21-7.

Lock led a second-quarter charge for the Tigers with three touchdown passes, including one from 55 yards and another from 56 yards as the big plays doomed Arkansas.

No. 2 Clemson went down. No. 8 Washington State fell. No. 10 Auburn blew a big lead and lost. Could top-ranked Alabama see a scare as well?

Not. A. Chance.

The Crimson Tide looked like an emphatic choice as the best team in the country on Saturday, rolling over Arkansas 41-9 in a game that was never in doubt for the home team on a lovely night in Tuscaloosa for Homecoming.

Not everything was perfect for Nick Saban’s squad though, as the team struggled to field punts and saw quarterback Jalen Hurts toss his first interception of the year. Of course, it’s not like it really mattered in the end, as the signal-caller finished with 155 yards and a touchdown through the air and another 41 yards and a score on the ground in a runaway.

Perhaps the biggest development for the Tide was that tailback Damien Harris might start to get a little Heisman love going forward. He started the game by ripping off a 75-yarder to the house (for the second straight time) and wound up with 125 yards and two scores on the ground all told. Harris did make a trip to the injury tent late in the second half but it’s possible he could have returned had the score not been out of hand. Either way, backups were in fairly early in the second half to spell the starters.

Razorbacks quarterback Cole Kelley did what he could in making his first start in place of Austin Allen,but it’s not exactly easy to face this Alabama defense. The big gunslinger passed for an even 200 yards with an interception and a TD, but was pressured on just about every dropback and took five sacks. It would have helped if he had a running game to lean on but Devwah Whaley could muster just 18 yards on five carries against that tough front seven.

In the end, another ho-hum Alabama victory. Considering what happened elsewhere around the country in a wild week for college football, it’s at least good to know you can rely on some things that never change.

Things got heated at Arkansas in the lead up to their next game and we’re not just talking about head coach Bret Bielema’s hot seat among the Razorbacks fan base either.

It appears that starting tailback Devwah Whaley was involved in what is being called a “minor disagreement” with a teammate this week at practice. While scuffles in the middle of an intense play are nothing new in football, there were a lot rumors that the running back was actually injured in the brouhaha and wouldn’t be able to take the field at AT&T Stadium on Saturday against Texas A&M.

“He’s ready to play,” the coach said on his radio show, according to Hawgs Illustrated. “How many times are 21-year-olds in a disagreement? Devwah is excited to play in the game in his home state.”

Whaley himself confirmed that he wasn’t injured and would be playing against the Aggies on Twitter:

I appreciate everyone's concerns. I'm set to travel with my teammates and take on Texas A&M in my home state.

While one side of this “disagreement” is all set to play at JerryWorld against Texas A&M, the other side is not. That’s because wide receiver Brandon Martin, who was also reportedly involved, is staying home in what Bielema labeled a previously determined decision due to his lingering hamstring injury. Either way, Razorbacks fans are probably hoping for a lot of the same fight they’ve seen this week from the team to carry over to their game on Saturday.

A watch list of the top running backs in the nation has been released by the PwC SMU Athletic Forum on Thursday. The Doak Walker Award watch list is full of great players, including 2016 Doak Walker Award semifinalists Saquon Barkley (Penn State) and Kamryn Pettway (Auburn).

Among those included on this year’s initial Doak Walker Award watch list (more players can be added at any time) are LSU’s Derrius Guice, Georgia’s Nick Chubb and Sony Michel, LJ Scott of Michigan State, Mike Weber of Ohio State, and Bo Scarbrough of Alabama, Washington’s Myles Gaskin, and Western Michigan’s Jarvion Franklin.

D’Onta Foreman of Texas beat out both Barkley and Pettway last season for the award. The Doak Walker Award has been presented to the nation’s top running back annually since 1990. Among the winners over the years have included Ricky Williams, LaDainian Tomlinson, Reggie Bush, and Montee Ball.

To be included on this watch list, the university athletic department must submit a nomination.

No. 24 LSU jumped on No. 25 Arkansas, building a 21-0 lead and coasting to a 38-10 win in Fayetteville on Saturday night.

The Tigers proved that last week’s 10-0 blanking by Alabama was more about the Tide than themselves, as this week’s result looked identical to the pre-Alabama results under Ed Orgeron: a dynamic passing attack and lots and lots of Leonard Fournette with some Derrius Guicemixed in.

Fournette opened the scoring with a pair of short touchdown runs, and Guice effectively put the game away before it could get started when he added a 3-yard score to stake the Bayou Bengals to a 21-0 lead at the 10:19 mark of the second quarter.

Austin Allen, who set up LSU’s second score with an interception in his own territory, put Arkansas on the board with a 44-yard strike to Dominique Reed and then pulled within 21-10 to open the second half scoring, but Fournette’s third scoring rush of the night, this one to cap an 81-yard drive at the 6:59 mark of the third quarter, pushed the lead back to a comfortable 28-10.

Guice pushed the game into blowout territory when he raced for a 96-yard touchdown with 6:04 remaining in the contest. He finished with 21 carries for 252 yards and two scores, while Fournette charged for 98 yards and three scores on 17 carries. Danny Etling mixed an a complimentary 10-of-16 passing for 157 yards.

In what was a fitting end to an awful night, Arkansas seemingly added a cosmetic score on a touchdown pass to tight end Jeremy Sprinkle, but a review revealed him down at the 1-yard line. Freshman running back Devwah Whaleyfumbled into the end zone on the next snap. Allen finished 15-of-31 passing for 210 yards with a score and two interceptions, while the Hogs were out-rushed as a team 385-81.

The win pushes LSU (6-3, 4-2 SEC) into a bowl game for the 17th straight season and, of more immediate importance, continues the argument for Orgeron to keep the job full-time ahead of a tough closing stretch at home versus Florida next week and at Texas A&M on Thanksgiving night.

Arkansas (6-4, 2-4 SEC) was exposed — again — as a step above the SEC’s lower class but three steps below the upper echelon of the conference. But with a closing stretch of Mississippi State and Missouri, an 8-4 regular season and top-25 finish still seems entirely likely.